Baking
"I don't know if this is exactly the bachelorette party you had in mind, ma'am," Harriet said as she removed a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies from the oven. She examined the cookies with a critical eye, making sure they were soft, moist, and golden brown, before setting them aside and sliding another tray into the oven.
"Oh, Harriet, I think that baking Christmas cookies is the perfect bachelorette party," Mac assured her as she sprinkled powdered sugar on some sweet almond cookies that had come out of the oven earlier. "Just you and me and a couple of really cute guys."
She motioned to her two assistant chefs, one of whom was sitting on the floor banging a measuring cup while the other stirred a large bowl of cookie dough with a wooden spoon.
"Aunt Mac, I think it's ready," A.J. announced proudly.
Mac peered over the side of the bowl at the lumps of flour floating in some rather thin, milky cookie dough. "Uh…A.J., why don't you let me stir for a while and you can take over with the powdered sugar?" she suggested.
"Okay," A.J. said agreeably. He clapped his hands together, blowing a huge puff of flour into his face. "Aunt Mac, maybe we can bake your wedding cake for you," he said.
Mac grinned. "Thanks for the offer, A.J., but I think we might leave the wedding cake to the professionals."
While the others worked diligently on the cookies, Jimmy had been sitting quietly on the floor, happily waving his measuring cup. Suddenly his eyes grew wide and his mouth formed an O in excitement as he scrambled to his feet and made a beeline for the front door.
"Jimmy!" Harriet called. Frantically, she wiped her hands on her apron and took off after her son. "Jimmy!"